This invention relates to an improvement in hand-held machines such as cutters which are driven by a small engine.
Generally a hand-held machine such as a cleaver or cutter comprises an operational means like a cutter blade which is rotatably provided at an end of a drive shaft pipe which connects the operational means with a driving mechanism such as an engine to rotate the operational means at high speed.
Since the length of the drive shaft pipe of the aforementioned hand-held machine is generally determined to allow the users to work in a comfortable posture, the length between the driving mechanism and the operational means tends to become long. They inconveniently require extensive space during transportation and storage, and present problems in working efficiency depending on the location or topography of the land.
In order to solve such problems, there has been proposed a hand-held machine wherein a drive shaft pipe which is telescopically constructed internally houses a shaft of the driving mechanism side with a joint of a special shape and another shaft of the operational means which can receive the joint of such special shape. However, the proposed machine is not completely free of problems as it has inferior sectional strength on the drive shaft, and rotational force cannot be transmitted smoothly due to play in the joint.